'X-Men: Apocalypse': First trailer promises death and destruction for humanity

By Graeme McMillan, The Hollywood Reporter

Updated 12:54 PM ET, Fri December 11, 2015

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Meet the X-Men of 'Days of Future Past' – Behold the massive cast of the 2014 film "X-Men: Days of Future Past." The movie is based on a classic "X-Men'"storyline from the comic books. Because of the time travel element, it gathers characters from all of the previous "X-Men" movies. Here's a look at the characters in their comic and film incarnations. (Some will reprise their roles in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse.")

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X-Men characters – The X-Men's leader, Professor Charles Xavier, has been played by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy (his younger self). For the first time, the two Professors X come face to face.

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X-Men characters – Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender have played the X-Men's constant antagonist Magneto over the years, and just like with Xavier, both versions of Erik Lehnsherr show up in the movie.

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X-Men characters – The most popular member of the X-Men, Wolverine has appeared in each one of the films, including his own solo films. Hugh Jackman has been able to bring the famous attitude of the comic book character to the big screen.

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X-Men characters – Halle Berry reprises her role as one of the X-Men's most ubiquitous team members, Storm. Berry has also kept consistent with the comic book character's changing hairstyles.

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X-Men characters – Jennifer Lawrence plays the younger Mystique, taking over the role from Rebecca Romijn in the earlier films. She's far from the only blue mutant, however.

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X-Men characters – Nicholas Hoult plays the intellectual Beast (a role played by Kelsey Grammer in "X-Men: The Last Stand"), and based on the trailers, he's not always stuck looking that way.

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X-Men characters – Ellen Page reprises her role as Kitty Pryde, a fan favorite in the comics. Word has it that her role is larger here than it was in "Last Stand."

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X-Men characters – Shawn Ashmore is back as Iceman, who was one of the original X-Men when the comic books debuted more than 50 years ago.

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X-Men characters – Bishop has a lot of fans among comic book readers and is portrayed here for the first time by Omar Sy.

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X-Men characters – Evan Peters portrays the lightning fast Quicksilver for the first time (a role also played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the upcoming "Avengers: Age of Ultron").

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X-Men characters – Daniel Cudmore returns as the super-strong Colossus, who can turn his body into metal.

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X-Men characters – Lucas Till is back as the remarkably powerful Havok, last seen in "X-Men: First Class."

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X-Men characters – Booboo Stewart plays Warpath, a character making his film debut.

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X-Men characters – Toad hasn't been seen on film since the first "X-Men." The villainous mutant is played this time by Evan Jonigkeit.

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X-Men characters – Blink has the amazing ability of teleportation and shows it off for the first time on the big screen, as portrayed by Bingbing Fan.

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(The Hollywood Reporter)They've triumphed over evil mutants and evil mutant-hunting robots, but as the first trailer for next year's X-Men: Apocalypse teases, perhaps seemingly immortal mutants with dangerous ideologies and blue faces will succeed where all other threats have failed and undo Charles Xavier's dream of human/mutant peaceful co-existence once and for all.

Of course, it wouldn't be an "X-Men" movie without morally compromised characters. This time around, however, it's not Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique who's walking the line between good and evil, but Michael Fassbender's Magneto who falls under the thrall of the mysterious Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac).

While Mystique's allegiance with Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) might surprise longtime fans of the comic book franchise, it's nothing compared to seeing Alexandra Shipp's Storm apparently standing alongside the bad guys this time around, with Ben Hardy's Archangel also standing on the wrong side of the conflict. No wonder Xavier is willing to go to new lengths — including finally adopting the iconic bald look — to stop Apocalypse's plan of cleansing the world of humanity.